Ontario Mine Rescue joins Ontario Corps to help with emergencies and natural disasters

Ontario Mine Rescue joins the Ontario Corps to bolster emergency response. The partnership leverages mine rescue expertise for natural disasters and more.

On Friday morning in Sudbury, the province welcomed Ontario Mine Rescue to The Ontario Corps, its newest partner, as it builds a network to protect communities during emergencies and natural disasters.

Jill Dunlop, Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Response, signed a memorandum of understanding with Ontario Mine Rescue at the agency’s head office in Sudbury.

“We are seeing that the frequency of some of these emergencies or disasters happening in areas, so we want to have that coordinated approach,” Dunlop said.

“When a municipality reaches out to the provincial emergency operation centre, we are able to coordinate from the top up to provide those additional supports to help build the capacity in communities.”

“We have our mine rescue stations set up in nine different communities across the province,” said Shawn Rideout, Ontario Mine Rescue chief officer.

Mine rescue volunteers

“So from Windsor, Ont., right to Red Lake, Ont., we train just over 1,200 mine rescue volunteers annually,”

The Ontario Corps was formed in 2024 and it’s creating a network of partners and volunteers ready to respond to local emergencies and quickly deploy critical resources.

Mike Parent, Workplace Safety North and Ontario Mine Rescue president and CEO, said factors such as climate change is leading to more extreme events happening more often.

“The minister spoke about a huge ice storm in her community last year and we also have some geopolitical instability, so we don’t know what the world brings tomorrow,” Parent said.

‘Help is coming’

“As we go around the north, we know the distances, so we know the collaboration between this and all our small communities, what it means to everyone,” said Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Bill Rosenberg.

“We know that if there is a disaster in your area or a weather event, that there is going to be help coming and we share that responsibility.”

Ontario Mine Rescue said its responders are trained to operate in conditions where visibility is limited, hazards are complex and decisions must be made quickly and safely.

By connecting with Ontario Corps, it’s extending this expertise beyond mine sites.